Technique Help Needed

[austinious]

So I need to sew close to hardware as shown in the picture and the best I can come up with is to have my needle face the hardware do forward stitch two backward stitches flip it around and then go to the next piece of hardware turn it 90° go across back stitch twice cut the thread and repeat on the other side.

In other words two L shapes.

I'm hoping someone else has run into this and has a much more elegant solution, any help is much appreciated.

[toxo]

40 minutes ago, austinious said:

So I need to sew close to hardware as shown in the picture and the best I can come up with is to have my needle face the hardware do forward stitch two backward stitches flip it around and then go to the next piece of hardware turn it 90° go across back stitch twice cut the thread and repeat on the other side.

In other words two L shapes.

I'm hoping someone else has run into this and has a much more elegant solution, any help is much appreciated.

One idea is to cut two slots where the "D" rings are. Run the strap under, up through the slot, through the "D" ring , back through the slot and on to the next "D"ring. The strap isn't seen and maybe uses less leather. Stitching across a strap will weaken it. Maybe a nice rivet either side of the rings? A lot depends on how strong it needs to be.

[austinious]

I add two rivets about 1/2 inch from the rings in the stitched rectangle.  Very strong, one ring and strap will support 200lbs. hanging overnight.

I have made many dog collars like this and not even my oldest(7+ years) shows any signs of failing.

[toxo]

19 minutes ago, austinious said:

I add two rivets about 1/2 inch from the rings in the stitched rectangle.  Very strong, one ring and strap will support 200lbs. hanging overnight.

I have made many dog collars like this and not even my oldest(7+ years) shows any signs of failing.

You asked, I answered. I don't see any rivets.

[austinious]

I posted under sewing machines...I am asking about sewing machine techniques.  In a finished product, this was a practice piece, I will add rivets.

Thanks for your opinion.

[TomE]

I had the same problem when I began sewing halters.  I am wet forming 2-3 layers of 10-12 oz leather around the hardware and there's a steep change in thickness that the presser foot has trouble climbing.  @rdl123 gave me a tip that I've used on every halter since.  Begin sewing 4 holes away from the hardware and leave long tails on the threads.  Back stitch by hand up to the hardware.  In your case, you can sew the beginning and the end of the stitch line by hand.  Will make the job look neat and keep the hardware snug so there's less wear on the leather.  Also, I don't think it's necessary to stitch across the width of the strap.  According to Stohlman, the stitches should run lengthwise along the strap for the strongest construction.

Edited January 18, 2022 by TomE
more info

[austinious]

15 minutes ago, TomE said:

Begin sewing 4 holes away from the hardware and leave long tails on the threads.  Back stitch by hand up to the hardware.

I tried that early on, but only once.  Great suggestion, I think I could do sides and one end, then finish by hand.  I'll try a test tomorrow.  Thanks 

[Constabulary]

You did not say what machine you are using.

If it is some sort of singer 111 machine then this foot set may help to sew closer to the hardware

https://www.ebay.de/itm/224401640036

if it is a 441 type machine an inline foot set may help:

https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/76502-inline-cowboy-presser-feet-on-cowboy-cb4500/

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Constabulary

[austinious]

My bad, I used the cowboy tag, should have listed it.

I have the inline presser, when you make the turn after the short side stich, the presser foot will hit the ring and push everything forward so you get a super long stich. Front to back that foot is longer than the stock foot.

[Constabulary]

I have no 441 type machine but I know there are harness feet for them. Maybe you can shorten the toes a bit if needed.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/14339/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=441+foot

Maybe the left toe foot does the trick

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Constabulary

[DrmCa]

So close to hardware will be a challenge with any feet. There are special machines for that. If memory serves, curved needle machines should be able to do that. Otherwise change your L into I and _ or stitch by hand. If you just made 2 _ seams on each side of the hardware then stitched your I you'd be golden.

[TomE]

5 hours ago, austinious said:I have the inline presser, when you make the turn after the short side stich, the presser foot will hit the ring and push everything forward so you get a super long stich. Front to back that foot is longer than the stock foot.

With the in-line presser feet, I back out of the corners for a few stitches then switch to forward stitching. This gives the rear foot a place to set down when moving away from a corner. 

[austinious]

8 hours ago, DrmCa said:

If you just made 2 _ seams on each side of the hardware then stitched your I you'd be golden.

You know, someone else said that, and I had done that early on.  I can see that I could actually make a U and leave enough thread to hand close it.  My next try will be this... Thanks

5 hours ago, TomE said:

I back out of the corners for a few stitches then switch to forward stitching.

I did try this, works just fine.  I should have mentioned that I use LR points to get a saddle stitch look, and doing this ends up with two straight stitches, which spoils the effect.  Good to know I'm not grasping at straws.

[Matt S]

How about adding a welt the same thickness as the D-ring bar underneath that top-piece? Then the top surface of the top piece would be flat and you could sew as close to the D as you like. On longer pieces you could skive the welt down to a feather edge a short distance from the D so it tapers up to the D ring from zero (taper length an dangle depending on how fast your machine can climb).

Or just forget the backtacking and go round in a single course, overlapping your first and last 2-3 stitches. This is something I prefer rather than separate start/end points because it's faster, looks neater and is a bit more reliable tensioning 2x sets of stitches into one set of holes than 3x sets of stitches. If you can't get close enough to the D on one of your short sides due to the bulk of your foot set, try turning the piece the "wrong" way and going in reverse for that side.

[austinious]

12 hours ago, Constabulary said:

Maybe you can shorten the toes a bit if needed

I'm starting to think I should machine my own foot to work with the inline presser foot, the presser has a very small footprint.

[DrmCa]

2 hours ago, austinious said:

My next try will be this...

I am a slow thinker, I confess! There is at least 1 other option that is though not so easy to accomplish. It is to only insert the Ds after the stitching and to close them in place. Of course it only works with pliable metals. Won't work with zinc/pot metal.